Lauren Lawrence
For The SchoolgirlsWho Died In The Chinese Earthquake
The ground let its jaw down and some were swallowed whole
Those who somehow got through have a dumbstruck look
I prayed for the buried when the door sealed off their breathing
I asked for cranes to lift them from their deep beds
And for the rain to loosen its strange seedlings
But there is nothing to save those emptied of their light
In my dream they sink in deeply enough to come out the other side
and dust the mud off their ribbons
I have come this far without falling off the rim of my own life
When the young ones crawl out of their bones
I hope they find a way to the river
